Bucs hope third time the charm vs. Saints
Despite decisive earlier losses, team riding high
TAMPA, Fla. — No one does “win and advance” better than Tom Brady.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren’t at their best in their first playoff victory in 18 years, but they won. That’s all that really matters in the NFL playoffs.
“You could win 100-0, and it’s going to be the same result in the end,” Brady said of striking a balance between critical self-analysis of the team’s play and the reality that a win is a win at this time of the year.
“You’d love to play great every game,” the six-time Super Bowl champion added. “I think it’s good to win and advance. If we don’t play well next week, we’re not going to be happy.”
Next up for Brady and the Bucs, who beat Washington 31-23 in the NFC wild-card round, is a third matchup this season with NFC South rival New Orleans. The
Saints (13-4) won both regular season meetings convincingly, including 38-3 in Tampa on Nov. 8. The Bucs are looking for a first victory in the divisional round of the playoffs since January 2003, when Tampa Bay went on to win its only Super Bowl championship.
Overall, the Bucs (12-5) have lost five straight times to their division rivals, with four of the games decided by double digits.
Coach Bruce Arians said turnovers have been the difference since his arrival in Tampa Bay in 2019.
Brady has thrown12 interceptions in his first season with Tampa Bay, five of them in the pair of losses to New Orleans. The Saints also sacked the 43-year-old quarterback six times.
“The turnover margin has been lopsided in their favor. We’ve got to protect the football much better and stay balanced (on offense),” Arians said Monday.
This is the third time the Bucs will face an opponent three times in the same season. The others occurred in 1997, when Tampa Bay was part of the NFC Central and met division rivals Detroit and Green Bay twice during the regular season and again in the playoffs. The Bucs split the season series before beating the Lions in a wild-card game. The Packers won all three meetings between the teams.
The Bucs set a franchise playoff record with 507 yards total offense against Washington, with Brady throwing for 381 — another club best — and two touchdowns. Mike Evans became only the second player in team history to have a 100yard game receiving in the postseason, finishing with 119 yards on six receptions. Antonio Brown had his fifth touchdown reception in the past four games, and receiver Chris Godwin, tight end Cameron Brate and running back Leonard Fournette contributed, too.
Fournette had his best game since joining the Bucs late in training camp after being released by the Jaguars. He rushed for 93 yards on 19 attempts and had four receptions for 39 yards to account for 132 yards from scrimmage.